Andrea, who leafleted at the Redeemed Tour Spring in
Greensboro, NC, writes:

I set up on the sidewalk where people
were coming from a parking lot across the street, and I handed out
just under 200 of the booklets. Many people seemed to be looking at
them as they walked away. Although none came back to talk to me, it
was a good experience overall.

I work in a college ministry
and plan to ask the woman in charge of our building if I can place
some of the remaining booklets in the lobby.

This Is Hope: Green Vegans and the New Human Ecology by Will
Anderson, 2012, Earth Books, 368 pp, $22.95,
www.ThisIsHopeTheBook.com

Anderson calls for “green vegan” living, which entails more than
abstinence from animal products. He sees veganism as an ideology that
includes human population control and a hands-off approach to the
natural world. Borrowing from the important work of Melanie Joy (Why
We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism),
Anderson contrasts the ideology of green vegans with that of carnism.
The latter sees humans as special creations who are entitled to use
and abuse nonhumans as humans please. Green veganism doesn’t call for
a modest reform of modern living. Rather it calls for a comprehensive
orientation toward compassion, concern, and sustainability. Anything
less might slow the rate of humanity’s self-destruction but will not
save our species, as well as the nonhuman world.

Anderson
hopes that humans, upon recognizing the necessity of green vegan
living, will choose this lifestyle. Unfortunately, I see little
evidence that more than a small fraction of the populace has embraced
his call, even though it strikes me as obvious that there is a the
growing ecological crisis. Indeed, I find it hard to understand why
those who insist on maintaining a course that is self-destructive for
humanity still have children. Perhaps we are dealing with the
psychology of denial, akin to the attitude of people living at the
base of an active volcano who choose to ignore the clear threat in
their midst. In this case, humanity isn’t just denying the problem;
it’s continually worsening the problem. It’s like fracking over the
San Andres Fault.

When there is no immediate danger, when
change is slow, and when actions don’t have immediate, obvious
impacts, it is difficult to encourage people to act, particularly when
action means significant lifestyle changes. The challenge, it seems to
me, is to find ways to make visible the growing ecological crisis –
the “elephant in the room.” Otherwise, within 2-3 generations there
won’t be elephants, other creatures, and perhaps humans, anywhere.

This observation might encourage people to give up in despair,
but I don’t think that is the Christian way. We are called to be
faithful, and that means living as if our actions will meaningfully
change the world. Indeed, that possibility exists, however remote it
might seem.